


Behind Closed Eyes

by facelessoldwoman



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: M/M, Sleep Walking, Speedos, descriptions of violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-25
Updated: 2015-02-25
Packaged: 2018-03-15 00:20:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3430994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/facelessoldwoman/pseuds/facelessoldwoman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hannibal likes to swim, Will Graham likes to watch.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Behind Closed Eyes

Will Graham had not been to a gym outside the FBI training academy in years. Will Graham did not worship in places of physical toil, he was not a disciple to the aesthetic of the sculpted human form – he hitched his post closer to dog walking and boat engine repair. And yet here he was: in a private gym late at night.

There was something to be said about the view. 

As Will Graham watched, Hannibal cycled from left to right and left again in the lanes in the Olympic swimming pool with evenly measured strokes. No one else was around; the only sounds were the sloshing of the water and Hannibal within it. The strength and steady cadence reminded Will Graham of chopping wood, the felling of a tree. Will Graham let his imagination transport him for a moment, and in his mind the sound of the axe against a tree trunk and the smell of pine became real.

After a few minutes Hannibal lifted himself out of the side of the pool. Water flowed off his tanned hairless body like water off a duck. His package was tightly packed into a sporty little Speedo, and aside from this, a bathing cap, and swimming goggles Hannibal was entirely nude. Hannibal pulled off the cap and let his hair tumble down against his brow in a wet swath. Hannibal took a moment to calm his breathing and then he went to grab a towel from the side of the swimming pool.

Hannibal drank from a plastic water bottle, he did not turn before he spoke aloud, "What brings you here on a night like tonight, Will?" 

Will Graham choked. He had been so careful in his pursuit and observation of the waterlogged cannibal, but all his effort was for naught.

"What gave me away?" Will Graham asked from behind the potted fern where he was hiding.

"You smell like night sweats and dog," Hannibal said, "Do you still have trouble sleeping, Will?"

"Bad dreams," Will Graham said.

"What do you see behind closed eyes, Will?" Hannibal asked.

Hannibal wrapped a very small towel around his waist like a sarong, but the arrangement was short enough to see all the way up his chiseled thighs. Distracting, but faced with this display Will Graham didn't have to think very hard to recall the images that kept him up at night, the dreams that had driven him out of bed to the very pool where he knew Hannibal would be swimming.

Will Graham decided to play it safe and answer the question with another question, "How can you still swim in this pool after that warden tried to crucify you here?"

Hannibal considered this for a moment and said, "Trauma lives on the inside, Will. You can't escape it by hiding from the outside world."

"Fair enough," Will Graham said, he walked out from behind the fern and faced Hannibal directly. No more hiding. The two men walked to adjacent lounge chairs. Will chose his chair and he reclined with closed eyes, Hannibal remained standing.

"Why did you follow me tonight, what brought you here to meet me?" Hannibal said. His arms were crossed, his posture stiff and tall, he towered over Will with his damp sarong and tight Speedo.

"I don't suppose you would believe that I was sleep walking," Will Graham said.

"I would, actually," Hannibal said, "But I have seen you in your waking dreams, and you are far more lucid tonight."

"What am I like when I am dreaming?" Will Graham said, "I can never remember. I'm usually not even aware that it has happened."

"You are often dead-set on achieving a certain end," Hannibal said, "Those nights, or days, you come to me on a mission and the only way to dissuade you is to wake you- and I confess that sometimes I would rather not."

Will Graham turned the words over in his mind but he had no idea what Hannibal might mean. Will Graham opened his eyes and turned towards Hannibal. Hannibal was sitting on the edge of his lounge chair now, one leg crossed over the other as he let an arm behind him hold his body erect. Hannibal was as elusive as ever, shrouding what he meant in jokes that no one else understood.

"My sleepwalking pleases you?" Will Graham asked.

"I find it very pleasurable sometimes, yes," Hannibal said, "I only wish that we both remembered those moments."

"I thought you enjoyed being the smartest person in the room," Will Graham said, "Why not relish one more secret that only you know?"

"Secrets can make a man lonely," Hannibal said, "I wouldn't mind having a secret that I could share."

And then, seemingly apropos of nothing, Hannibal reached forward and kissed Will on the lips. It was a thought that blossomed and formed into action in a moment, without time to question or second guess. One moment Hannibal was a still life, the next he was a figure in motion. Will Graham blinked rapidly in the wake of this event. The taste of chlorine lingered.

"Was that the first time you have kissed me?" Will Graham said. Something about the kiss felt familiar, like an echo.

"It was the first time that I kissed you, but not the first time that we have kissed," Hannibal said. Will blushed but Hannibal smiled, "Like I said, you were very persistent. How many times did I tell you to snap out of it only to have you awaken so that both of us were shaken and confused, but for different reasons." 

Hannibal settled down next to Will Graham on his lounge chair. Will was mortified but he couldn't make himself move. Hannibal continued, "And then one day, I let you carry on as you desired, as I desired. I did not do this to hurt you, I wanted to see what would happen."

"What happened?" Will asked.

"You didn't remember," Hannibal sighed, "But I couldn't forget."

And then, apropos of a cascade of irrepressible romantic feeling, Will grabbed hold of Hannibal. He held him close, a desperation that could only be soothed by proximity, arms interlocked and bodies pressed tight.

Hannibal pulled away and they were kissing again, jaws taught and necks craning as they sought the perfect fit between them. Warm pressure melded into mouths gasping, tongues searching, and the biting of lips. When they pulled apart Will Graham's head was spinning and he rested his head against Hannibal's shoulder.

Hannibal rubbed at the tingle of beard burn on his chin with the smile of the mystified. Will Graham realized that he was wrapped around Hannibal tight, his flannel and denim soaking in the last of the moisture clinging to Hannibal's skin- but neither man felt cold. 

"You're a monster," Will Graham said, "You wreck everything. You've wrecked me, thoroughly."

"I know," Hannibal said.

"There will be a reckoning," Will Graham said.

"I’m looking forward to it," Hannibal said. 


End file.
